This Issue Brief, written through a collaboration between two federally funded technical assistance and research dissemination centers, the New York Comprehensive Center (NYCC) and the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality (TQ Center), describes what teaching as a clinical practice profession means to those in the field of teacher education (as well as those who are keen observers of the field) for three purposes: 1) to inform the Institutions of Higher Education/Teacher Quality Initiative at NYCC; 2) to extend the conversation about the teaching profession beyond institutions of higher education to a wider policy and practice audience; and 3) to bring coherence to our own understanding of what a clinical practice profession means so that the TQ Center and NYCC can better support states and regions in improving teacher quality. In this Issue Brief, the authors outline five major components of a clinical practice profession and then discuss how these components relate to the work of teacher and what they understand about the preparation of teachers as clinical practice professionals. The authors conclude by describing efforts around the country to improve the clinical preparation of teachers. (Contains 5 footnotes.)